Hornets Coincidence

General NCS Basketball15

SFN has been celebrating Cedric Simmons’ selection in the NBA Draft by the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in this entry.

As I was reading some of the articles linked in the entry I ran across the following quote that put me on a little bit of thought progression:

The pair join Hornets leading scorer David West, who finished second in the NBA’s most improved player voting, and veteran Marc Jackson in NO/OKC’s frontcourt.

^That is David West, a 6’10 C/PF from Garner, North Carolina that was not recruited by NC State and ended up playing for a coach named Skip Prosser at Xavier.

That is Skip Prosser who parlayed the success of West (and others) into becoming the Head Coach of Wake Forest, where he then out recruited NC State for the talents of Chris Paul, who coincidentally is now the starting point guard of the Hornets.

So, the former Charlotte Hornets now have three roster spots held by players that played their high school basketball in the state of North Carolina.

General NCS Basketball

15 Responses to Hornets Coincidence

  1. Dan 06/29/2006 at 10:18 AM #

    The funniest non-NY Knick team on the draft to me is the Bobcats. You got to hand it to Bobcat management. They know their fans. They know that their fans know college ball a lot better than thet know pro-ball. They know David Noel and Bobby Frasor a whole lot better than they know Raja Bell or Manu Ginobli. It appears the #1 consideration in their draft is marketability of the player as an individual and not the marketability of the team as a unit.

    They go with Felton and May last year to get the Chapel Hill west crowd excited. They drafted Okafor the year before (the only time this strategy may have worked a little). This year they spend the #3 pick on Morrison. Adam Morrison ahead of Brandon Roy or Randy Foye. Why? Because they think about popularity of players and not about the popularity of a winning team.

    Pretty soon the Bobcats are going to have to change their name to The Legends of College Basketball and start a traveling tour around college basketball hot spots like NC and Indiana. Michael Jordan and Bernie Bickerstaff better come around quick. They only have 1 year before Isaiah Thomas is fired making them the worst performing and most famous front office in pro sports. No one who drops a grand or five on season tickets cares whether they recognize the players from the NCAA tournament. They wont show up for a team of friendly faces who lose every night. It seems the only chance the Bobcats have is if Chapel Hill can churn out a cant miss superstar or five that and that they fall to the right spot to be able to pick him.

  2. Andy 06/29/2006 at 11:01 AM #

    What is with all the Bobcat bashing I am reading here/PackPride. It’s only their 3rd year, and for the first two they have had greatly reduced salary caps (1/3 and 2/3 of normal cap). Even with these handicaps, AND Gerald Wallace Sean May and Okafor missing long stretches they have outperformed expectations. Granted their record hasn’t been stellar but they have tons of cap room for next years free agent crop, and a solid young core. Felton’s stats when starting last year were equal to Paul’s, and Sean May…well Sean May makes the other players feel in shape. Morrison fills a need better than Roy/Foye, and his shooting will help them more than Foye would have.

    Now if they had just taken Granger instead of May…

  3. Dan 06/29/2006 at 11:09 AM #

    I could be wrong. I dont think anyone really knows anything about who will be be good in the NBA. I just dont see Adam Morrison being able to compete physically in the NBA. The guy jumps about 24″. He got that shot off plenty in college. I just wonder if he can get away with that in the NBA. I’m thinking Kieth Van Horn or Danny Fortson here.

    Foye would play the same position and even give you a guy that can play both guard spots. He’s a lot stronger than Morrison. IMO, Roy was the best player in the draft right now. Roy is a solid player. At the very worst, Roy is a starter in the NBA for 10 season.

    The biggest “what?” Ive had this whole drafy period is the hating on Craig Smith. Craig Smith is gonna make some teams sorry a la Josh Howard.

  4. Wulfpack 06/29/2006 at 11:17 AM #

    Book it — Adam Morrison is going to be a star. I love the pick.

  5. cfpack03 06/29/2006 at 12:09 PM #

    What’s with the bobcats bashing?? Can I assume you don’t live in Charlotte? My indeference roots from the whole process of landing the team here. King BET wanted a new arena in ‘uptown’ but the tax payers voted it down (most still bitter from the G.Shinn/Hornets bs). Then the city finds a loophole, proceeds with raising taxes, and build the damn thing uptown, where it would cost the most, and BJ cleverly writes into the contact that the city pays the traffic coordination. Moron city board doesn’t realize this until the start of season 2. Then Bob Johnson names the team after himself. Then he contacts ONLY black-owned vendors and majority-black high school volunteers. During the intermissions and stoppages, they play only gangsta, hip-hop, R&B. Then they draft the kick-me-in-the-crotch combo of Felton/May when there were clearly better players to choose from (see Dan’s marketability instead of ability post).
    So yeah, that’s why the attendance is higher for the Checkers games than the bobcats

  6. PackMan97 06/29/2006 at 3:20 PM #

    Most of the Bobcats bashing has to do with leftover Shin hating COMBINED with the fact that the voters said “NO” to a new arena and the city taxed ’em and built it regardless. Toss in the fact that that Bobcats are becoming one huge UNC-CH lovefest (MJ, Felton, May) and it’s enough to make one puke.

    I LOVED the Hornets until Shin ran ’em into the ground and I’m just not ready to embrace a team that will embrace all things tarheel blue. Sorry, got better things to spend my money on (like the Hurricanes!)

  7. Dan 06/29/2006 at 3:40 PM #

    Yeah, I gotta admit its a perfect hate storm for me and the Bobcats. Sure, Jordan is above pretty much everything, but other than that its bad for me. Being a good State fan, I loathe Chapel Hill. And to tell you the truth as a major conference basketball snob, I hate me some Zags too.

    The Bobcats with all their attempts to draft well known college players seem to be unaware that half the State cant stand Chapel Hill, and half the college basketball fans in the country didnt like Adam Morrison. Add to that the losing, and you have a recipe for failure.

  8. StateFans 06/29/2006 at 4:17 PM #

    Don’t see where the blog is bashing the Bobcats. Although we would if we cared enough. Most people in Charlotte that are close to Bob Johnson and the Bobcats situation are bashing. Including many of the minority owners. (Not racial minority…but locals that own small stakes in the club).

    It seems that most people breathed a big sigh of relief that the Bobcats made the right selection on Wednesday night.

  9. Wulfpack 06/29/2006 at 5:21 PM #

    There has not been one expert to question the Morrison pick. In fact, I’ve heard many say he’s a lock to become an All-Star. Regarding the Bobcats…just win baby. Charlotte fare weather fans will support the Bobcats once they put together a playoff calibre team. They have a strong base in place, loads of young talent. I honestly think they are two years away should they be able to land a marquee player. But Morrison will go a long long way. His jumper is silky smooth, and most say he’s deceptively quick. He’ll be a real nice compliment to Felton in the years ahead.

  10. bTHEredterror 06/29/2006 at 7:59 PM #

    I expect there is no coincidence that ACC players are finding their way to the Hornets. West was just a good player and I don’t think most people who saw him at Xavier knew he was from NC (although guys like him and Eric Hicks. etc always made me wonder why aren’t WE recruiting them).
    Cedric fills a need they have, and likely reminds them in both Game and mannerisms of PJ Brown. Any team that wants a competitior who has proven himself at the highest level of college basketball, would do well to peruse the ACC all teamers and give them a workout. The intensity of competition may actually be softer in “the League” than in “the Conference” so most of them could handle the pressure.

  11. doug74 06/29/2006 at 9:39 PM #

    I’m an original Hornets season ticket holder from 88 and also loathe Shinn but may become a fan again because of Ced. Shinn had a great opportunity after he got Zo but things really went downhill when he gave the big contract to Johnson AFTER his back injury and let Zo go, and then a bunch of others left for money. The final insult for me was shipping Dell off when it wasn’t about money.

  12. Dan 06/30/2006 at 8:42 AM #

    “There has not been one expert to question the Morrison pick”

    That is far from true. There is a plethora (heh) of criticism out there regarding his defense, his strength, and his ability to play a full season of 48 minute games.

    The guy shined in college no doubt. But the guy was able to coast for two months a season during conference play. The big games were in December and March.

    The should have picked Brandon Roy. Everyone should have picked Brandon Roy. Him and Foye were this drafts only real locks.

  13. Andy 06/30/2006 at 10:50 PM #

    I wasnt accusing the blog of bashing, just the commenters here and at pack pride. That said I was speaking purely from a personnel perspective not the other factors such as their relationship with the city of charlotte. Frankly I think theyve done a good job developing the young core and are in a pretty good position considering its only year 3.

  14. Wulfpack 06/30/2006 at 11:38 PM #

    Dan,

    On draft night, all four ESPN talking heads thought it was an excellent pick, not even raising questions of taking someone else — it was a lock. I’ll say this, if there was a lock in this draft it was Morrison. I’ve heard it over and over, tv, radio, Internet, etc. And I believe it. The guy can light it up and he’s incredibly driven. Charlotte worked out many players, and Morrison clearly was at the top of the list. He could very well be averaging 20 a game this year. You know he’s only going to get better.

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